Epoch: A Berserker's Rise

Chapter 49: Sovereign Kingdoms

Adam didn't bother going to the church, it the opposite way of the guards barracks, and he wasn't that drunk. And he didn't need to be sober to speak with Sarah.

On his way Adam saw that the Players looked at him weirdly, but he didn't bother about them and hurried to the barracks as fast as he could. When he did reach there, he went up to the secretary and showed the secretary the Azure Insignia while asking "Tell the Marshall that Valiant Heart is here."

The secretary was a different one from the one who handed him his badge, and so when she saw him enter she didn't pay much attention, but the moment she saw the badge she straightened up and immediately sent the message.

Meanwhile, Adam looked around and saw that there seemed to be a new batch of trainees among the guards, and among them was someone Adam knew personally, Arno, the man he had saved during his first quest.

Adam didn't have time for pleasantries though, not right now. Sarah appeared before him, and looked at him with a sneaky smile as she asked "What is it, we already saw each other earlier. Do you miss me that much?"

Adam rolled his eyes and said "Don't overestimate yourself too much woman. You said you would help me register my guild when I get past Level 15."

Sarah was surprised by how direct Adam was, when they previously talked he was more elegant and had a way with words. With a sniff though, she understood the situation, he was drunk. He waved her hand and Adam felt an energy pass through him, cleaning his inner system.

Adam's drunk state suddenly disappeared, and his eyes regained their lost clarity. He then realized what he just said and exclaimed "Sorry for that, but can you help me?"

Sarah nodded and grabbed him by the shoulder, disappearing from the spot. Meanwhile, the few players who had come to the barracks to find quests or enter the guards looked at Adam being familiar with such a powerful NPC. It seemed that every time Valiant Heart made a public appearance, he would stir up a storm.

As the players began posting on the medias what they saw, Adam appeared with Sarah into an office, which he guessed was hers. She waved at the seat in front of the main desk and said "Sit here." while she herself went to sit behind the desk.

Adam discreetly opened his status and sent a message to King Slayer, asking him about the name of the guild. Adam personally thought of naming the guild 'King's Heart', like how they had called their party.

King Slayer's answer came quickly, and surprised Adam. King Slayer said to find another name, one that wouldn't associate King Slayer with it. Adam asked why, but King Slayer said he would explain later as he was busy right now.

Adam himself didn't care much, it was but a name, but he knew many people would have never passed the opportunity of having their name in a guild's name.

Adam found King Slayer to be more and more mysterious, but as long as he kept his promises then Adam didn't feel the need to pry into his secrets.

Now, he had to quickly think of a name, one that would represent his goals, as well as the way his guild would act in the future.

Sarah opened a file on the desk and said "What do you know about Guilds?"

Adam snapped back to reality and said "They are big groups of adventurers who team up to form a powerful organization." Guilds actually weren't exclusive to players, there also existed NPC Guilds, after all not every NPC wanted to blindly follow a kingdom or a racial power, some wanted to have their independence, and it came in the form of guilds.

Sarah nodded and explained "This is a good definition of a guild. Normally, you should have gone to the Adventurer's association to create a guild, to fulfill some requirements as well as pay a definite fine to create your guild. Since I'm the Marshall of this kingdom and am personally powerful, I can do it in their stead and send in a report."

She continued "Guilds are numerous in numbers, and vary in strength. Some Guilds are made of only a dozen or two Iron Ranks, while some others are even more powerful than the Azure Sky Kingdom."

Adam tilted his head and asked "How powerful are they compared to the Racial Powers?"

She replied "It depends, some are less powerful than this kingdom, and some are only below Racial Powers in terms of experts. As I have already explained to you, in this world the strongest power is the Holy Temple, followed by the Racial Powers and then kingdoms like Azure Sky. However, there is another special power that stands equal to the Racial Power, and that is the coalition of the Sovereign Kingdoms."

Adam asked "Sovereign Kingdoms?" She nodded "This is the name given to the strongest independent kingdoms managed by guilds. Individually, even the strongest Independant Kingdom is weaker than the Racial Powers. Racial Powers are said to each have at least 3 Legends at their top, while the strongest Independant Kingdoms only have one at best. Actually, there only exist 5 Independant Kingdoms with a Legend Rank in them. They are known as the Sovereign Kingdoms."

Adam said "Then this coalition came from the pressure caused by the Racial Powers, who felt threatened?"

She replied "Exactly. For the Racial Powers, any Legend Rank rising in a foreign power is a source of worry. So when the Sovereign Kingdoms showed their Legend Ranks, the Racial Powers tried to threaten them. The only way for Sovereign Kingdoms to thrive, was to form a coalition, and stand together so that in case one of them is attacked, every other Independant Kingdom would team up and attack the Racial Power."

Adam said with some doubt "But I don't believe Racial Powers only have 3 Legend Ranks each, they must have more hidden. Would they really feel threatened?"

Sarah laughed "Of course they have more than 3! Just counting the Legends they have in the sub powers, there are more than 3 Legends. For example if my brother becomes a Legend, the Coldlands Empire would still only be said to have 3 Legends, but if the Empire were to come across any danger, he would definitely stand with them. And there are the hidden ones. But the same can be said for the Sovereign Kingdoms.

The Coalition should have more than 10 Legend Ranks in their midst, but this isn't their greatest strength. Instead, it is their great number. The Coalition has way more people in it than any of the Racial Powers, and so having the whole Coalition fight a single Racial Power would most certainly lead to the Racial Power's demise.

And even if the Racial Power were to win, the losses incurred would be too big, because the Coalition is the Big Sister of the Adventurer's Guilds through the world, and losing them would be a disaster for the various powers. That's the current status quo in the world, and how the Coalition rose to become the equal of the Racial Powers."

Adam asked "Thanks for enriching my knowledge, but what does it have to do with me?" Sarah looked at him with a strange gaze and said "Everything, actually. Creating your guild is easy, I only need the name you want to give it. But you have an important decision to make, and that which side you want your guild to be in. Do you want to enter the Coalition, or instead be under the Coldlands Empire?"

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